1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data entry methods and systems for computer systems. The present invention can relate to the field of palmtop computers and handwriting recognition systems. Specifically, the present invention discloses a flexible data input system that can accept data from simultaneously active systems including a handwriting recognition system and a virtual keyboard system.
2. Related Art
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the xe2x80x9cpalmtopxe2x80x9d computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can be xe2x80x9cpalm-sized.xe2x80x9d Most palmtop computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer and electronic notepads, to name a few.
Since palmtop computer systems are very small, full-sized keyboards are generally not efficient input devices. Palmtop computers using keyboards have keyboard devices that are so small that a user cannot touch-type. Furthermore, to use a keyboard device, a user must either place the palmtop computer system down onto a flat surface, so the user can type with both hands, or the user holds the palmtop computer system with two hands and types with thumbs only.
Instead of a keyboard device, some palmtop computers utilize a touch screen and display an image of a small keyboard thereon. When a particular button is pressed or tapped, a small keyboard image is displayed on the display screen. The user then interacts with the on-screen small keyboard image to enter characters, usually one character at a time. To interact with the displayed keyboard image, the user taps the screen location of a character with a pen. That corresponding character is then recognized and added to a data entry field, also displayed on the screen.
Instead of using a keyboard device or a displayed keyboard, many palmtop computers employ a pen and a digitizer pad as an input system. The pen and digitizer pad combination works well for palmtop computers because the arrangement allows a user to hold the palmtop computer system in one hand while writing with the pen onto the digitizer pad with the other hand.
A number of palmtop computer systems that rely on the pen and digitizer pad combination as the primary means of input have been introduced to the market. Most of these pen-based palmtop computer systems provide some type of handwriting recognition system whereby the user can write words and letters on the digitizer pad with a stylus. The palmtop computer system then converts the user""s handwriting into a machine readable format such as ASCII code characters. Examples of pen-based palmtop computer systems that provide handwriting recognition include the Apple Newton (trademark) device and the Tandy Zoomer (trademark) device.
Consumer acceptance of many pen based palmtop computer systems has been limited due to the poor performance of handwriting recognition systems. When a human reads a handwritten message, the human uses various clues to decipher the handwriting such as the known spelling of words, the known subject of the message, the writer""s character writing style, and knowledge of English grammar. Since it is very difficult to teach a computer system all these subtle handwriting recognition heuristics, most handwriting recognition systems only rely on the writer""s input strokes and a dictionary of common words. Using such limited information, such handwriting recognition systems often yield inaccurate results.
Some handwriting recognition techniques divide the recognition task into steps for identifying individual characters. Another handwriting recognition system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,888, issued on Mar. 30, 1999 entitled, xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Immediate Response Handwriting Recognition System that Handles Multiple Character Sets.xe2x80x9d This character recognition system recognizes a large number of different characters with less effort on the user""s part (e.g., fewer xe2x80x9cmode changexe2x80x9d strokes). This US patent is incorporated herein by reference.
Some palmtop computer systems have been introduced that utilize both the handwriting recognition system, as described above, and also have the capability of generating a displayed keyboard. However, these computer systems allow only one means of input to be active at any time. For instance, if the user is entering characters using the handwriting recognition mechanisms, then the on-screen keyboard is not displayed and is not active. Moreover, if the on-screen keyboard image is displayed, then the handwriting recognition mechanisms are disabled. As a result, current palmtop computer systems can be relatively inflexible in the ways in which data is manually entered from a user standpoint. This is particularly disadvantageous for experienced users that interact well with the handwriting recognition system. It would be advantageous, then, to provide a more flexible user data entry system for palmtop computer systems.
Accordingly, what is needed is a flexible mechanism and process for entering character data into a palmtop computer system. An embodiment of the present invention provides a data entry system wherein a handwriting recognition mechanism and an on-screen virtual keyboard are simultaneously active and capable of data entry. Since both methods are active simultaneously, the user does not have to switch between them. The present invention gives a user increased flexibility in the manual entry of characters to the palmtop computer system. The present invention provides these advantages and others not specifically mentioned above but described in the sections to follow.
A method and system are described for providing simultaneous data entry for a computer system having both on-screen keyboard entry and mechanisms for handwriting recognition entry. In one embodiment, a portable or palmtop computer system contains a flat panel display screen capable of displaying thereon a keyboard image (xe2x80x9cvirtual keyboardxe2x80x9d). Characters can be entered into the computer system by a user interacting with (e.g., tapping) the displayed characters of the virtual keyboard. The computer system also provides a handwriting recognition mechanism (e.g., digitizer pad) whereby characters are recognized based on a user drawing strokes on the pad. In accordance with the present invention, the virtual keyboard and the handwriting recognition mechanism are simultaneously active for data entry. Therefore, the computer system can accept character entry from the handwriting recognition mechanism while the virtual keyboard is displayed and active and capable of providing character entry itself. Specifically, from the virtual keyboard, the user is allowed to either tap the individual buttons, representing characters, on the screen to enter data or the user can enter data via the handwriting recognition mechanism. Since both methods are active simultaneously, the user does not have to switch between them. The present invention gives the user increased flexibility in the manual entry of characters to the computer system.
More specifically, an embodiment of the present invention includes a computer system comprising a processor coupled to a bus; a screen coupled to the bus and for displaying thereon a virtual keyboard image, the virtual keyboard image comprising characters and a first data entry field, the screen also for registering selection of a first character in response to a stylus contacting a screen location displaying the first character; and a handwriting recognition pad coupled to the bus and for providing information to the processor for recognizing a second character in response to the stylus being stroked on the handwriting recognition pad wherein the handwriting recognition pad and the virtual keyboard image are both simultaneously active for accepting manual data entry and wherein the first and second characters are displayed in the first data entry field. Embodiments include the above and wherein the computer system is a portable computer system.
Embodiments include the above and wherein the screen is a flat panel display screen and wherein further the handwriting recognition pad comprises a button for causing the screen to display the virtual keyboard image in response to being tapped by the stylus. Embodiments include the above and wherein the handwriting recognition pad comprises: a first region upon which the stylus draws alphabetic characters for recognition by the processor; and a second region upon which the stylus draws numeric characters for recognition by the processor.